Sergio Garcia Shot a Ball Into a Tree, So He Climbed the Tree and Hit the Ball Out (Video)

Spain’s Sergio Garcia was already having a rough day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill yesterday when he approached the tee on the 10th hole. The guy recorded an embarrassing 9 on the par-5 sixth hole—which sounds a lot like the way I play golf—and was 3-over par on the day and even-par for the tournament.

Then he hit his tee shot on the 10th right into a tree. And it stayed in the tree.

At that point, though, Garcia apparently figured he didn’t have much to lose. So he went over to the tree, hopped up on top of a golf cart, and climbed up. Then, after locating the ball, he told his caddy to hand him a club.

Mind you, at this point Sergio was 15 feet up in the tree—high enough that he could barely reach the club the caddy was holding up for him.

Garcia’s playing partner, William McGirt, was pretty amused by the spectacle. “I knew they were looking around the tree,” he said. “I didn’t know they were looking in the tree. I looked over and Sergio is up in the air, and I’m trying to figure out what in the hell he’s going to do. He called for a club. He’s hugging the tree. And the ball comes flying out. Are you kidding me?”

Garcia was not kidding McGirt. The dude hit a one-handed backhand shot from 15 feet up in the tree that sent his ball right back onto the fairway. Then he jumped out of the tree like a freaking panther or something.

After flubbing his next shot from the fairway, Garcia actually managed to recover pretty well—all things considered—and score a double-bogey on the 10th. However, when play was suspended a few holes later because of severe weather, he got in the van, sat down next to McGirt, handed him his scorecard, and said “I’m out of here.”

Oh, sure, Sergio said he injured his shoulder up in that tree. But I’m thinking he’d just decided, after a day like that, it was time to pack it up and head back home.